The domestic equity party took a breather today, ending just a whisker below the flatline. Snapping its two-day winning streak, the Nifty closed just shy of the 24,350 mark'as investors kept one eye on the charts and the other on rising geopolitical tensions between India and Pakistan.

Adding to the cautious mood was Bajaj Finance, which dropped a bit of a buzzkill with its conservative corporate guidance. The cautious tone spilled over into the broader markets, putting particular pressure on mid- and small-cap counters.

Realty and pharma stocks flexed some muscle, while energy and banking stocks decided to sit this one out. The trading action was tight, with the index moving in a narrow band, typical of a weekly expiry session. The weekly Nifty50 F&O series expired today instead of Thursday, courtesy of the Maharashtra Day market holiday tomorrow.

The S&P BSE Sensex shed 46.14 points or 0.06% to 80,242.24. The Nifty 50 index fell 1.75 points or 0.01% to 24,334.20.

Bajaj Finserv (down 5.45%), Bajaj Finance (down 5%) and State Bank of India (down 2.9%) dragged the index lower.

The broader market underperformed the frontline indices. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index shed 0.72% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index fell 1.74%.

The market breadth was weak. On the BSE, 975 shares rose and 2,938 shares fell. A total of 150 shares were unchanged.

The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of the market's expectation of volatility over the near term, jumped 4.90% to 18.22.

Numbers to Track:

The yield on India's 10-year benchmark federal paper was up 1.86% to 6.460 as compared with previous close 6.438.

In the foreign exchange market, the rupee edged higher against the dollar. The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 84.6100, compared with its close of 84.9625 during the previous trading session.

MCX Gold futures for 5 June 2025 settlement tumbled 1.74% to Rs 94,925.

The US Dollar index (DXY), which tracks the greenback's value against a basket of currencies, was up 0.23% to 99.44.

The United States 10-year bond yield declined 0.26% to 4.163.

In the commodities market, Brent crude for June 2025 settlement fell $0.56 cents or 0.87% to $63.69 a barrel.

Global Markets:

European stock markets traded higher on Wednesday, as investors pored through another slew of earnings along with euro zone economic growth data.

The euro zone economy grew by a stronger-than-expected 0.4% in the first quarter, flash data from statistics agency Eurostat showed Wednesday, as global tariff tensions are casting uncertainty upon the bloc's growth prospects. The forecast was for a 0.2% expansion in the first three months of the year, compared to a revised 0.2% growth in the last quarter of 2024.

Euro zone economic growth has been lackluster for much of 2023 and 2024, even as the European Central Bank has been cutting interest rates in an effort to stimulate growth and boost economic activity. The ECB's deposit facility rate, its key rate, was taken down to 2.25% earlier this month ' down from highs of 4% in mid-2023.

Germany's economy expanded by 0.2% in the first quarter from the previous three-month period, preliminary data showed, as U.S. tariff tensions threaten the country's growth outlook.

Most Asian shares ended higher as traders parsed a slew of key economic data in the region.

Starting with China, the country's manufacturing activity contracted more than expected in April, with the official Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) dipping to 49.0'below the 50 mark that separates growth from contraction.

Japan's industrial production in March shrank by 1.1% month-on-month, more than double the expected decline. Retail sales also disappointed, rising 3.1% year-on-year, short of the 3.6% forecast, after a hot streak through early 2024.

Meanwhile, all eyes are now on the Bank of Japan, which kicked off its policy meeting today. Markets expect rates to remain steady at 0.5% when the decision lands on Thursday.

Across the Pacific, U.S. stocks posted their sixth straight day of gains on Tuesday, driven by cooling Treasury yields and renewed optimism on the trade front. The Dow climbed 0.8%, while both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq notched up about 0.6% gains.

President Trump added to the cheer, signaling positive progress on tariff negotiations with India'coming along great, he said. Meanwhile, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent noted that substantial talks are underway with Japan and hinted that a deal with South Korea might be on the horizon.

US consumer confidence took a hit, with the Conference Board's index dropping 7.9 points to 86.0 in April'its lowest reading since May 2020. The Atlanta Fed's GDPNow forecast for Q1 also slipped to -2.7%, while the JOLTS report showed a drop in job openings to 7.192 million.

In corporate news, Coca-Cola managed to fizz up 0.8% despite reporting a dip in Q1 revenue'even price hikes couldn't fully quench investor thirst. Meanwhile, Spotify lost some rhythm, tumbling over 3% after issuing underwhelming guidance for monthly active users.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Bajaj Finance tumbled 4.99%. after the company revised its FY26 guidance. It now expects asset under management (AUM) growth of 24-25%, down from its earlier estimate of 25-27%. The NBFC also sees 40-50 basis points improvement in cost to income, lower fee income growth of 13-15% and credit cost in the range of 1.85-1.95%, leading to RoA projection of 4.4-4.6% and RoE estimate of 19-20%. The company reported 17.12% jump in consolidated net profit to Rs 4,479.57 crore on 23.68% rise in total income to Rs 18,468.74 crore in Q4 FY25 over Q4 FY24.

Meanwhile, the company's board recommended a special interim dividend of Rs 12 per share and a final dividend of Rs 44 per share for FY25. The board also proposed splitting each equity share of face value Rs 2 into two shares of face value Rs 1 each. Additionally, the board has proposed issuing four bonus shares of Rs 1 each for each share held.

Bajaj Finserv slumped 5.45%. The company's consolidated net profit jumped 16.44% to Rs 4756.32 crore on 14.21% increase in total income to Rs 36,596.43 crore in Q4 FY25 over Q4 FY24.

IndiaMART InterMESH fell 1.15%. The company's consolidated net profit jumped 81.3% to Rs 180.60 crore on a 12.8% increase in revenue from operations to Rs 355.10 crore in Q4 FY25 over Q4 FY24.

Strides Pharma Science added 1.14% after the company said that its step-down wholly owned subsidiary in the US, Stride Pharma Inc, has acquired four approved ANDAs for the US market from Nostrum Laboratories, Inc., USA.

CEAT rallied 8.28% after the company's net profit advanced 2.45% to Rs 99.49 crore on a 3.66% increase in revenue to Rs 3,420.62 crore in Q4 FY25 over Q3 FY25.

Schaeffler India jumped 5.43% after the company reported a 16.58% jump in standalone net profit to Rs 265.41 crore on a 14.1% increase in revenue from operations to Rs 2,110.02 crore in Q1 CY25 over Q1 CY24.

Punjab & Sind Bank declined 2.02%. The bank's standalone net profit surged 124.45% to Rs 312.78 crore on 32.52% increase in total income to Rs 3,835.70 crore in Q4 FY25 over Q4 FY24.

Vedanta added 0.67% after the company's consolidated net profit surged 154.42% to Rs 3,483 crore in Q4 FY25 as compared with Rs 1,369 crore in Q4 FY24. Revenue from operations jumped 13.89% YoY to Rs 39,789 crore during the quarter.

Exide Industries slipped 4.88% after the company reported 10.27% decline in standalone net profit to Rs 254.60 crore in Q4 FY25 as against Rs 283.75 crore posted in Q4 FY24. Revenue from operations rose 3.74% YoY to Rs 4,159.42 crore for the quarter ended 31 March 2025.

UTI Asset Management Company declined 5.32% after the company's consolidated net profit tanked 46.26% to Rs 87.46 crore in Q4 FY25, compared with Rs 162.76 crore in Q4 FY24. Total revenue from operations fell 9.65% YoY to Rs 375.91 crore during the quarter.

Varun Beverages shed 1.64%, The company reported a 35.22% jump in consolidated net profit to Rs 726.49 crore in Q1 CY25 as compared with Rs 547.98 crore posted in Q1 CY24. Revenue from operations (excluding excise duty) surged 28.94% YoY to Rs 5,566.93 crore in the first quarter of 2025.

Shoppers Stop tumbled 7.63% after the company's standalone net profit tanked 88.56% to Rs 2.47 crore in Q4 FY25 from Rs 21.60 crore recorded in Q4 FY24. Revenue from operations increased 2.27% year on year (YoY) to Rs 1,022.36 crore in the fourth quarter of FY25.

Greaves Cotton surged 5.23% after the company reported consolidated net profit of Rs 24.05 crore in Q4 FY25, steeply higher than Rs 2.56 crore for Q4 FY24. Revenue from operations rose 22.34% year on year (YoY) to Rs 822.83 crore in the quarter ended 31 March 2025.

Go Fashion (India) jumped 7.6% after the company reported 52% jump in net profit to Rs 19.9 crore on a 13% increase in total revenue to Rs 204.8 crore in Q4 FY25 as compared with Q4 FY24.

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